Pietro Francesco Cavalli's Erismena, which precedes other Italian operas performed in Britain by 30 years. Courtesy Bodleian Library
A library has saved the earliest surviving score of an English language opera for the nation after raising £85,000 in two months.
Oxford’s Bodleian Library secured Erismena, which was created by pre-eminent Italian composer Pietro Francesco Cavalli in the 1670s, after a government export bar in August 2008 prevented the manuscript being sold to overseas collectors because of its “outstanding significance for the study of the history of music in the UK.”
Cavalli’s manuscript pre-dates other Italian operas performed in Britain by 30 years, and was described as a “landmark of our musical history” by Emma Kirkby, Honorary Doctor of Music at the University of Oxford.
“The substantial manuscript is rare in being complete, and is of great historical significance,” added Erik Clarke, Heather Professor of Music at the university.
Donations have flooded in from members of the public since November, and bodies including the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, New Chamber Opera and the Friends of the National Libraries have also contributed to the appeal, which was launched as part of a £1.25 billion campaign to preserve precious historic resources at the university.
The score is the earliest surviving English language opera. Courtesy Bodleian Library
The score was originally sold by two former Professors of Music at the university in 1797, and it returns to join prestigious works including the earliest copy of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Richard Ovenden, Keeper of Special Collections and Associate Director at the Bodleian Library, said: ‘We thank all the members of the general public and the organisations whose donations made it possible for the Erismena to be saved for the nation.
"The acquisition makes it possible for us to conserve this unique and significant manuscript for the benefit of generations to come.”
Hallelujah: the British Choral Tradition is open at the Bodleian Library until April 25 2009, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 4.30pm in the Exhibition Room, Old Schools Quadrangle, Catte Street, Oxford. Admission is free.
